12 lbs Gouda

Started by mjr522, October 06, 2013, 03:16:09 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

mjr522

I made a 12 lbs Gouda today.  Again, I'm not real sure how long to keep it in the brine.  It's 12 lbs, 4 inches tall.  Based on the weight times heights, this should be in the brine for 48 hours.  Based on 3 hours per pound, this should be 36 hours.  Thoughts?

Also--I'm not sure what to do for the rind with this guy.  I've bagged/waxed my smaller cheeses, put olive oil on my big parmesan, and washed my big Gruyère.  Natural?  Washed? Something else?

Here's a couple of pictures with a soda can for reference:

big Gouda 1
big Gouda 2

Tomer1

Wow, what a monster!  what mould are you using?   Id go with cheese cream and plastic wrap to control moisture lose. 

mjr522

Thanks, Tomer.  I've got a 4kg Gouda mold.  I really enjoy making these monster cheeses...I just need to figure out how to take care of them better.

JimSteel

Wow, that's a beast of a cheese. 

I can't really help answering any of your questions, but I would think you have quite a bit of breathing room with something this large.  Am I right in thinking that a thick rind or any surface mould would pose less of a problem than on a smaller cheese?

I can imagine how beautiful that would look if you did a really nice wax job on it though.  Like one of those professional wheels of Gouda you see at the factories/farms.  Since it's Gouda, it seems like waxing would be appropriate though.

mjr522

Thanks for the thoughts, Jim.  It will be a while before I need to decide what I'm doing with this one.  I'm kind of leaning towards Tiarella's coconut oil coating, though I agree that waxing it would be traditional and would look like the "real thing".  I don't know if you saw it, but I put in another post that I recently learned all the cheeses I've made for the past year have had half of the fat in them that they are supposed to, this one included...

hoeklijn

I looked it up in the famous dutch book about artisan Gouda cheese: When you have a 4 kg cheese in the correct ration (and it's looking very nice indeed), and you use a 20% brine and aim for a aging period up to 8-9 months and 2-3% salt in the end product, you have to brine for about 60 hours at a temperature around 15C. When you want to age longer, also brine longer.
Typically a Gouda here is coated with cream coating...

mjr522

Thanks, Herman.  I pulled mine out a a saturated brine just short of 48 hours, so I'm probably a little low on the salt content side.  Maybe I'll throw it back in the brine for a while.  I think cream coat is the best option.  I've never used it before, though.  I'll have to read up on it.

Tomer1

Quote from: Mike Richards on October 12, 2013, 02:22:56 PM
Thanks, Herman.  I pulled mine out a a saturated brine just short of 48 hours, so I'm probably a little low on the salt content side.  Maybe I'll throw it back in the brine for a while.  I think cream coat is the best option.  I've never used it before, though.  I'll have to read up on it.

If the rind is still moist you can do a bit of dry salting.

DrChile

Wowser - Cheese envy.

Nice one!

Trent